FREQUENCY OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

This paper investigates the frequency of violent behavior among elementary school students. Olweus Bullying Questionnaire was used for this purpose. The study included a total of 468 primary school students from 2nd to 8th grade. Students were shown eleven items which represented the various types of violent behavior, and they conducted an assessment of the frequency of these from the perspective of “victim” and “bully”. It was also investigated where violence occurs most often. Moreover, students were asked how much they can rely on the help of teachers and their peers if they suffered violence. The results show that violence is more prominent when observed from the perspective of the victim – it ranges from 3.4% (“almost every day” – “often”) to 17.1% (“rarely”), while the result from the perspective of the bully ranged from 0.2% (“almost every day” – “often”) to 4.9% (“rarely”), for the same types of violence. From the perspective of both self-report positions (“victim/ bully”), none of the students were in the first category of violence, while only 11 students (2.4%) were the “victim” and the “bully” at the same time, in the case of direct verbal abuse. Certain types of violence significantly correlate with age, gender and academic achievement of students. Furthermore, violence usually happens in places in and out of school, where there is no direct control of teachers and adults. Finally, students least expect help from their friends when they are exposed to violence at school.